“Mmm….”
Adam smiles then plants a firm kiss on my temple before he heads for the door. “I’m going upstairs to get dressed. I’ll be back faster than you can say Bida Manda.”
“You read my text!” I shriek, and he cackles as he dashes out the front door.
As soon as the door closes, I pick up my phone and scroll through my contacts for Jackie Knight. I don’t hesitate and within two rings she answers.
“Hello?”
She sounds exactly the same as she did a year ago when I told her I was moving out of the dorm, promising to give her my new phone number once I was settled. Her voice still had that faint Southern accent she had tried to snuff out during her college years in Arizona.
“Jackie?” My voice is shaky and a bit thick with phlegm from the yogurt. I clear my throat and I hear a sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. “Jackie, it’s Claire.”
“I know,” she whispers, and now it’s obvious she’s crying and it instantly makes me want to cry.
“Jackie, I’m so sorry I haven’t called.”
“Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. I promise. I’m okay.”
“Oh, thank God.” She whispers this a few more times and my chest aches with the thought of what I’ve put her through.
She doesn’t hate me.
“Claire, honey, please tell me you’re coming home for your birthday.”
“Not tonight. I have plans. But I’m staying the night in Raleigh and I want to come see you in the morning. Is that okay?”
“Is that okay? Honey, you don’t have to ask if you can come here. This is your home. You are always welcome here.”
For a moment, I can’t breathe. I’m reminded of how much I loved living with Chris and Jackie. Even the boyfriends Jackie dated were always sweet and respectful. She never settled down after divorcing Chris’s father when he was six. She always insisted she was too picky, but the truth is she’s too strong-minded and independent. She won’t take shit from anybody, which is why I fully expected her to be pissed at me. This tearful acceptance is possibly worse.
“I’ll be there in the morning,” I say as the front door opens and Adam walks in wearing jeans and a black Rip Curl T-shirt that hugs his ripped chest.
“Claire?”
“Yeah?”
“I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me, too,” I whisper before I hang up.
Adam waits for me by the door wearing a crooked smile that melts my heart. I tuck my phone into my back pocket and stuff my two expired IDs into my other back pocket. I go to him and wrap my arms around his waist as I rest my cheek against his chest.
“Thank you for taking me today.”
“I haven’t even taken you yet. How do you know this isn’t an elaborate ruse to get my hands on your trust fund?”
I lean my head back and look into his eyes, ready to butter him up. “You have the most gorgeous light-green eyes I have ever seen on a human being.”
“That’s because they’re full of dollar signs.”
“If I give you all my money, can you take me to see my foster mother tomorrow morning?”
“Tell you what, I’ll let you keep the money if you let me have an extra slice of birthday cake tonight.”
“Deal.”
“And you know what I mean when I say birthday cake.”
“Of course I do. That stuff with the frosting.”
He leans down to kiss me, stopping right before our lips touch. “The frosting’s the best part.”
After checking in on Cora, we hop into the truck with no suitcase this time. Adam insists we can sleep naked in the hotel room and I really have no problem with this suggestion.
All the local radio stations seem to be obsessed with playing Chris Knight songs this morning so I’m extremely grateful when Adam lets me put my music on again. I need to listen to something that will calm my nerves. I find an old classical music playlist I made for meditating and hit play.
“Really?” he asks, cocking an eyebrow as he casts me a sideways glance.
“I haven’t meditated today. I need something to help me relax.”
“Only because it’s your birthday.” We sit in silence for a few minutes before he sighs. “Claire, I need to ask you something.”
“Sounds serious.”
“This foster mother we’re going to see tomorrow… does she know why you dropped out of UNC?”
“She doesn’t even know I dropped out.”
“Oh.”
He’s silent for a moment and I take the opportunity to gaze at all the highway signage displaying all the names of streets I haven’t seen since before Senia moved in. It’s been more than two months since I’ve been to Raleigh. Every mile we drive brings me closer to knowing the truth about the trust fund my mother left me, and closer to the lies I’ve been running from for the past year.